Kahve, St Heliers

Reviewed by BRENDA WARD for canvas

The Kahve is my guilty secret. True.

The lure of the freshly baked and steaming muffin with fruit reclining seductively on the side ($3.50) has enticed me from the chores pretty much every weekend for a couple of years. It's got to the point where we only have to approach the door for the staff to empathise flat whites for Anne and me. Which sometimes segue into flutes of bubbly.

This day, though, somehow the meal they call breakfast never quite happened at my house, and the cafe on the waterfront seemed tantalisingly close. Close enough to smell the pancakes. Close enough to salivate.

As we settled into a table on the sunny veranda, an attentive waiter raced a glass of water to our table before sprinting off: the service here is Mediterranean rather than antipodean, and staff are frequently just blurs.

Those of us in the know hung out for pancakes, a couple of tenderly rolled golden sheets cuddled up to the contents of Carmen Miranda's headdress and a jug of syrup ($12). The fungiphile among us selected the fried potatoes with bacon, mushrooms, spring onions and sour cream ($13.50), and became so intent we forgot he was there.

This gave us time to savour the ambience: the Med meets Clara Bow.

The Kahve (Turkish for coffee) nestles in a 1920s pillared timber building restored some years ago, with a view across Tamaki Drive to the water and the hump of Rangitoto.

Zap! Steaming coffees arrived at warp speed, as the waiter beamed down with a smile. This speed of service is disconcerting for the novice, and some find it too rushed, too overbearing, but with familiarity it only adds to the buzz and pizzazz of this European-style restaurant and bruncherie.

Service: Tornado-like

Ambience: Sea, sun and style

Parking: For miles

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